Me, My Shelf and I: Rusell Jaffe

Kristan Lieb / Chicago Tribune

One of the more conceptual forms of literature in Jaffe’s collection is a piece of tinfoil containing little crumbled-up poems by John Engelbrecht. “I almost threw it away because I didn’t know what it was!” says his wife, Carleen Tibbetts. “This is the kind of ‘book’ that really pushes the boundaries of literature,” Jaffe says. “Reading sequentially isn’t bad, but it’s cool to be able to jump around.”

One of the more conceptual forms of literature in Jaffe’s collection is a piece of tinfoil containing little crumbled-up poems by John Engelbrecht. “I almost threw it away because I didn’t know what it was!” says his wife, Carleen Tibbetts. “This is the kind of ‘book’ that really pushes the boundaries of literature,” Jaffe says. “Reading sequentially isn’t bad, but it’s cool to be able to jump around.”

Poet and adjunct professor Russell Jaffe, who edits TL;DR magazine, is pictured in the book-filled Oak Park home he shares with his wife, the poet and critic Carleen Tibbetts, and their young daughter. Jaffe has always loved reading, but lately he has enjoyed reading books out of order -- and only the most interesting stuff. “I like ‘Madame Bovary,’ for example, but mostly I just want to read the parts where Gustav Flaubert is describing clothes,” he says.

Poet and adjunct professor Russell Jaffe, who edits TL;DR magazine, is pictured in the book-filled Oak Park home he shares with his wife, the poet and critic Carleen Tibbetts, and their young daughter. Jaffe has always loved reading, but lately he has enjoyed reading books out of order -- and only the most interesting stuff. “I like ‘Madame Bovary,’ for example, but mostly I just want to read the parts where Gustav Flaubert is describing clothes,” he says.